This invention relates to beverages. Artisans have suggested the addition of soluble dietary fiber to beverages as an enrichment additive or as a thickener replacement.
The growing awareness of the affect of lifestyle and diet on overall health has caused a significant rethinking of attitudes toward dietary habits. Current studies indicate that dietary fibers help promote good health and otherwise appear to have a beneficial affect on weight control, cholesterol levels, diabetes and in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, diverticulitis, varicose veins, hiatus of the hernia and colon cancer. The Food and Drug Administration in the United States has indicated that a person should consume 25 to 30 grams of dietary fiber per day, with a fair source of fiber containing at least 2 grams per serving and an excellent source containing 8 grams per serving. The current average dietary fiber consumed in the United States is 11 to 15 grams per day. Given the high usage of refined food products, such as cereal grain, in which the dietary fiber has been deliberately removed from the refined food product, there is a particular need for food products which can provide a convenient and tasteful source of dietary fiber.
Dietary fiber is defined as plant material resistant to hydrolysis by enzymes of the mammalian digestive tract. There are two general categories of dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble, with different physical properties and different benefits, although the presence of either or both in the diet beneficially affects health. However, the insoluble fibers (cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin) do not provide many of the health benefits that the soluble types offer. For example, bran, the most widely recognized fiber, has no beneficial effect on cholesterol levels while soluble dietary fibers have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing serum cholesterol levels in humans. In addition, when incorporated into liquid food formulations, the insoluble dietary fibers are difficult to maintain in proper suspension or dispersion, and tend to settle to the bottom of drinks and beverages. Additionally, the insoluble dietary fibers provide the liquid foodstuffs with a gritty texture and are not particularly pleasant tasting.
Because of their solubility, the soluble dietary fibers do not have a gritty texture associated with their use. However, the soluble fibers tend to thicken liquid products and can affect the original sensory mouthfeel of the unmodified liquid. Thus, dietary supplements such as carboxymethyl cellulose have to be added to water or juice and consumed promptly, or they will thicken the solution to the consistency of partially set gelatin or wallpaper paste. Psyllium powder which has some soluble dietary fiber does not thicken as much as carboxymethyl cellulose, but has a gritty or grainy mouthfeel and an unattractive, dirty appearance.
It is known that gum arabic does not affect the viscosity to the degree of soluble fibers such as carboxymethyl cellulose or psyllium powder. However, to form a liquid product with a dietary fiber level of practical significance, gum arabic must be used at concentration levels which would exceed current allowable Food and Drug Administration limits on gum arabic, and which would be so high that they might not be approved by that agency for human consumption.